


C'est la vie, c'est la mort

by unowenowl



Category: RWBY
Genre: Multi, also if you squint there's bumbleby fairgame and whiterose, analysis of past vs present, but i didn't tag them as such because it's not overly explicit and i don't want to lead people, but it's definitely pretty gay around here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22977400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unowenowl/pseuds/unowenowl
Summary: After the war, an old house is opened again. Past steps are echoed in new ones.Ruby goes looking for answers. Qrow remembers.Ghosts remain.
Relationships: Raven Branwen/Summer Rose, Raven Branwen/Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	C'est la vie, c'est la mort

**Author's Note:**

> some days you be writing over 6,000 words, some days you be struggling to write 2,000 and some days you just write something completely unrelated to your other wips that's fine
> 
> all of this monstrosity was kick-started really by this post, specifically the first picture: https://bloodraven55.tumblr.com/post/190857509511/i-remembered-that-weve-never-seen-ravens-team  
> so it would be a shame not to give credit
> 
> title from 'c'est la mort' by the civil wars

In the end, all she needs to do is ask.

"Dad, where did you live after you graduated?", Ruby asks, looking at her cup of cocoa. The silence around her becomes heavy. She looks back up at Taiyang, who for once has his face unreadable. "I mean, you haven't always lived here, have you?"

She doesn't remember who told her that they'd lived for the first couple of years someplace else. Perhaps Uncle Qrow.

Taiyang chuckles humourlessly, "No. Why are you asking?"

Ruby looks around the kitchen. She feels thankful that she chose to ask this at a time when there's only blood-related family present. She's not sure her father would be open about this otherwise.

Yang has turned around to face them, arms crossed and hips resting on the counter. One eyebrow is raised but she's not saying anything. 'I trust you' goes implicitly. Uncle Qrow is still washing the dishes, but she knows that she's got his attention.

"I was thinking that I'd like to see it, if you'd let me. I was thinking of a place that we could live in, you know, team RWBY. And maybe team JNPR, I don't know," she answers, blowing into her cup of cocoa. It’s already cold enough, but she needs something to do so she doesn’t look at him.

'And maybe that I'd learn something about mom, since you won't tell me anything,' she doesn't voice. She understands, in theory, why he can't. Why the few breadcrumps of information have mostly come from Qrow and Yang's vague memories. She cannot hold it against him. But she'd be damned if she doesn't want to know more.

Taiyang looks at her as if he'd read her mind and she has to mentally check what his Semblance is.

"It's an old house. You'd do better with just renting a newer flat in Vale, or something like that."

"Yes, but they can be somewhat expensive, you know. I was thinking that we might just look around. Maybe we can renovate it."

"I don't know..."

"Dad," Yang speaks up. "It's just an idea. If it's too much work, then we won't."

Her father looks at Yang, then at Ruby, then he sighs.

"Qrow?" he asks.

"Yes, I'll go with them," he replies from the sink, closing the tap sink. He turns around to face them as he dries his hands on a towel. Ruby wonders if he’d expected to be asked. Taiyang nods.

"Ok, thank you. You can go whenever you want, then, as long as Uncle Qrow approves of it, but remember that it's a very old house. It wasn't new when we bought it, either. So be careful."

"Oh, thank you Dad!" Ruby says, standing up to hug her father. He returns the hug easily.

______________________________

_The house is huge. And black. And it has a fence._

_Summer stands in front of them with her arms open wide in a "Ta-da". Her huge grin betrays her excitement. The wind blows her white cape behind her._

_"Nobody would guess you're such a goth just from looking at you," Qrow says. He moves just in time to miss what would have likely been a very painful hit from Raven's elbow. She grunts at him, then turns back to Summer. Qrow sees her eyes soften a bit, even though she would never admit to it._

_"Summer...you do realize we're only four people? That house is too big for us."_

_"But the owner is willing to give it to us very cheaply!" Summer says, excitedly. "It must be haunted!"_

_Taiyang sighs, "Of course you'd be excited about a house being haunted." His tone is fond._

_"Have you thought that maybe he gave us cheaply because we're new but very talented Huntsmen and Huntresses?" Raven asks, amused._

_"Yes, but it could still be haunted. Also," Summer says, turning around, "if we choose our rooms alright, we can make it so that Qrow won't hear us when we're having sex."_

_Taiyang coughs violently. For his part, Qrow likes the idea very much. Definitely beats getting kicked out of the dorm by his sister._

_"Also good for us if Qrow wants to bring someone over," Summer says with a grin and a wink and Qrow looks away in embarassment._

_"Ha!" Raven replies, "As if Qrow would be lucky enough to have someone s-"_

_Unfortunately, he's not fast enough to punch her in the shoulder, dodging it with no effort. She smirks at him in response._

_"Cut it out, you two," Summer says with no heat, too used to their antics, "The owner says he's had it for five years but he has no use for it anymore, so he's happy to sell it to us. It only needs some dusting, guys, and it'll be like new. It looks new on the outside, in any case," Summer says._

_They look back at the house. It has two floors and a small place above it, which must be the attic. The paint on the fence is as dark as the house, which makes Qrow think that the owner painted them quickly to sell the lot quicker._

_"I'm starting to agree with Summer that it might be haunted."_

_Summer gives him a thumbs up and opens the door of the fence._

_Taiyang looks worried._

_"He's just messing with you," Raven says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "In any case, let's go. We'll protect you of any ghosts."_

____________________________________

Well, Dad didn't joke. Both the fence and the house look the type of grey that comes with rain, with decaying, with complete lack of care for anything. Some sort of plant has grown on the side of the house and the windows are so dirty they're opaque. The fence has cobwebs between the bars.

It looks like nobody has set foot inside in twenty years.

She startles when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns around. It's Weiss.

"Are you alright?" Weiss asks.

Ruby opens her mouth, then closes it back again. She doesn't know what she's expecting out of this. She wonders if she's silly for hoping to find a diary of her mother, or something like that, an insight into a person she's never known but wanted to. She pulls her lips into something like a smile. It would be too easy, wouldn't it?

"We're going to live there?" Blake asks dubiously, in a low tone, interrupting their conversation.

Ruby looks at her. Blake's embracing Yang from her left side, Yang's right arm slumped lazily on her shoulders. She's eyeing the house. "It looks like it might fall on us."

Ruby smiles. "It just needs some dusting," she jokes.

"I think it could be fixed if we hired some really good people. I think I have a few strings I could pull," Weiss says, holding her chin in thought as she looks at the house with an analytical eye. Ruby feels herself warm up. She can always count on her partner.

She looks over at Uncle Qrow, who's been silent. He and Clover are standing close, whispering to each other. Clover's hands are on Qrow's back, moving slowly up and down. Uncle Qrow has his arms crossed and looks pale.

"Uncle Qrow?"

He looks up at her.

"Are you alright?"

His smile looks forced, "Yes, kiddo, don't worry. Just...thought I saw a ghost, is all."

"I didn't peg you the type to believe in ghosts."

"Not normally," he smiles, "but this house has always been a bit...spooky. We used to joke that it must be haunted. There's even a few tombstones behind the house."

"Eek!", Weiss replies.

"It's alright, it's not haunted," Qrow reassures her.

Yang rolls her eyes, "Well, we'll never know unless we get in. We've got each other's backs in any case. Let's go. Ruby, after you?"

Ruby nods and she steps forward. She feels her team behind her and that gives her courage. The door of the fence opens with a loud creak.

__________________________________________________

_Taiyang is the last person who goes inside the house, five minutes after everyone else. Qrow is on the stairs. He can hear him opening and closing the door._

_"What took you so long?" Raven asks. She has waited at the door, using various excuses so she doesn’t look like she’s waiting. But Qrow can see right through her._

_"I took a tour of the house," he hears Taiyang's reply. "There's two tombstones behind the house."_

_Qrow doesn't hear the rest of the conversation. He climbs the rest of the stairs, goes and inspects the second floor._

_There's three rooms and a bathroom. He opens each of them. In the first one there’s an empty bedframe and a painting. The second room must have been the house's library at some point, because there's empty bookshelves all around, along with an old armchair and a massive desk. The last room is the biggest, but also the emptiest. It only has a full length mirror that has a black spot._

_Qrow enters the last room, goes to check the mirror. It seems to be pretty good, it doesn't deform his image. Only the spot covers a bit of his chest, but it seems manageable. He looks at himself, analyses his features. 'I'm so young', he thinks suddenly, remembering he's not even twenty. Sometimes he forgets, when he thinks back on everything he's had to endure. Especially since he's so pessimistic about...most things._

_But now, he thinks, things are alright. He's safe, they're safe._

_They are all young, they have all the life in front of them._

_A loud noise from downstairs smacks him right out of his reverie._

_'Grimm', is his first thought and he doesn't hesitate to jump to the source of commotion, Harbinger in hand._

_The loud static noise is coming from the kitchen. Right as he reaches its door, it changes suddenly to slow music. He sees Summer standing in the kitchen, radio in hand, looking very excited._

_"I made it work!"_

_"Great!" Raven replies, annoyance clear in her voice, "now can you lower the volume?"_

_"Oops!" Summer giggles as she does so, then puts the radio on the counter. Only then she notices Qrow standing in the doorway, still reeling from the difference of what he'd expected and what had actually happened. She quirks an eyebrow in confusion._

_He looks away sheepishly. "Nothing. Thought it was a Grimm."_

_Summer makes a face, 'Sorry', she mouths._

_"No", Taiyang says, "it's just Summer messing with stuff she doesn't know how it works."_

_"Oh come on, it wasn't that difficult. It's not like it attacked you. It's actually pretty cool, I'm not sure I've ever seen one of these. I didn't even know there were still radio stations," she says, looking around it again._

_"It's probably for those fossils left around that caught the radio when it was used on a daily basis," Raven says, craning her neck from left to right, closing her eyes. She opens them with a startle when she feels Summer putting her arms around her._

_"Dance with me," Summer says. Qrow can see the blush deepening on his sister's cheeks._

_"Wha-no-why-why don't you ask Taiyang?" she asks a bit defensively, but she melts into the embrance._

_"Because I want to dance with you."_

_And it seems like there's nothing that Raven can say to that. She puts her arms on Summer's shoulders, and they start swaying slowly._

_Qrow feels weird. He's always felt a little weird about the fact that his sister was dating both of his teammates. And not because he wouldn't agree just...sometimes he feels like a third wheel. Or more like a fourth wheel on a cart that works very well on three wheels. He knows that Taiyang has no problem with neither showing nor receiving affection with either of them. But he cannot do that as easily, even in a platonic manner (much less when it comes to his sister. The fact they haven't killed each other yet is proof enough of love). He doesn't know what to do at times, whether it wouldn't be better if he just left-_

_He's startled to see Taiyang in front of him, smiling gently at him. As if he knows what he's thinking about. He opens his mouth to speak but he's interrupted._

_"Dance with me?"_

_"What? Why?"_

_Taiyang rolls his eyes, "Do I really have to repeat what Summer said a few minutes ago? Because I want to. Also, we cannot let them beat us at dancing," he says and takes Qrow by his hip, putting one hand on his shoulder. And before he knows it, Qrow is swiped into a valse which steps he doesn't know._

_"It is not a competition!" Qrow tries to protest._

_"Oh it absolutely is!" Summer squeals in joy. He sees them pick up their pace._

_'Oh well,'he shrugs internally,'game on'._

_Ten minutes later, they're all on the floor, laughing._

_"We won, fair and square," Raven says._

_"You did not!" Qrow replies back._

_"Did so. You two are absolutely attrocious at dancing. Especially you, Qrow. If you ever get a lover, please don't force them to dance. And especially not to compete against us."_

_If. What a bitch. He shows her the bird._

_Taiyang laughs, throws his head on his back "Okay, I'll admit we can improve. But Qrow wasn't as bad as you make it be, Raven. You're both actually equally bad. You're lucky Summer is such an excellent dancer."_

_Raven squints her eyes at him, "Et tu, Brutus?"_

_"Well, we had our fun," Summer says, hands on the floor. They all unanimously accept not to address the fact they're sitting on a very dusty floor and they'll need to shower sooner or later, "But now, on the house. Did you inspect it? How do you like it?"_

_"There's tombstones behind the house," Taiyang says and Summer nods, as if that's a positive point instead of a deterrent. Knowing her, it probably is._

_"I inspected the top floor. There's three rooms and one bathroom, but I haven't actually gotten to look into the bathroom."_

_"It's probably similar to the bathroom at the first floor," Raven replies, "Pretty standard. We have a toilet, sink, and a bathtub with a shower head. We'll need a shower curtain."_

_"And a shower", Taiyang says, wrinkling his nose. Raven chuckles._

_Summer looks at Qrow, "You said something about some rooms?"_

_"Yea, one of them is pretty small, could be maybe a guest room, the second was a library, most likely and the last one is the biggest. I think you guys could take that one. Except that it's mostly empty."_

_Summer nods._

_"There's also a room downstairs here that's pretty decent. Qrow could take it," Raven says._

_Summer nods again. "Well, what do you think guys? It's gonna be some work, but maybe we could make this our space, away from the Academy, don't you think so?"_

_Qrow likes that idea. Quite so. He looks at his teammates faces and he sees on their faces the same hope he feels. Even Raven._

_"Yeah," they say at unison._

___________________________________________________________________________

When they open the door, the dust that they disturb is so tick that it makes all of them cough.

"We should have had some masks," she says ruefully.

"Let's just walk carefully," Weiss says, taking her hand. "I've got you."

If it weren't for the dust and dirt and the greyness, the feeling of 'death', you could say that in this house there were still people living. It still has furniture. There is a hallstand near the door, and a hat on it. It is as full of dust as everything else, but underneath it, Ruby can see a beautiful shade of green.

The wallpaper is a faded shade of yellow. Near the hallstand there's a mirror, and on the table in front of it, a few old envelopes laid unopened. It almost looked as if the owners of the house simply left and forgotten to come back. The house was waiting for them.

The carpet underneath her feet had been soft, when it was first bought. She can recognize it.

"I...I remember this," Yang says softly, and Ruby turns towards her. She's looking around the hall with a sort soft focus. "Vaguely," She moves past Ruby and Weiss, dragging Blake after her, and goes in the kitchen. "Yes!" she exclaims. "I remember this!"

They all look back at Qrow, who looks deep in thought. After a few seconds or so, he nods.

"Oh yes, that's right. You lived here for a bit, before Raven left."

Ruby feels a tiny flame of jealousy deep in her stomach.

"I remember," Yang says with a small smile on her face. "That's where Dad and Summer used to cook. Well, Dad. Summer could only bake cookies. Best cookies though. And Raven," she says, turning left, "I almost always remember her at the table, either reading or sharpening her knives."

The flame grows a bit. Ruby bites her lips, tries to push it down, make it go away. She's always known Yang remembered their mom. She's never minded, she's always seen it as a source of information on a topic she could barely find anything on. Now, standing in a house full of memories, where she holds nothing, where there's no space for her, she feels a bit weird. Especially since she wants it so much. Not that she knows what 'it' is.

Weiss squeezes her hand. She nods, squeezing back. She doesn't want to bring attention to herself. She's being stupid, she knows that. A part of her is grateful that Weiss noticed, though.

She enters the kitchen, looks over it. It looks...much like their kitchen at home. With cupboards, cabinets, counters, an oven and a fridge. There's a big round table in the back of the kitchen, with a few chairs around. The tablecloth has poppies on it. Behind the table, there's a couple of paintings of landscapes. It feels weird to imagine Raven sitting there, much less...doing anything.

"Sometimes she drew," Qrow says, standing in the kitchen's entrance. Everyone whips their head in his direction. That is definitely hard to imagine Raven doing.

He rolls his eyes, "It was before she was the leader of a tribe. Everyone needs some hobby."

"Was she any good at it?" Clover asks, standing on Uncle Qrow’s other side.

"Yes, actually," Qrow says with a grunt and a nod. "We needed as many skills as possible in our tribe, and drawing was definitely handy for drawing outposts or people we wanted," He doesn't specify what for and nobody asks. Ruby is glad that her Uncle can speak more freely about those times. A couple of years ago she barely knew two things about his past.

"And what about you?" Clover asks, "What was your hobby?"

"I don't know," he replies, scratching his neck, "I don't know if I ever really had anything. Writing, maybe? Sometimes I wrote."

"Ah! Does that mean you have a diary full of angsty stories?" Yang asks, excitedly. Ruby can see the mischievousness in her eyes.

Qrow startles, looking as if he'd forgotten they were there at all. Ruby rolls her eyes.

"None of your business," he says tensely, which really translates to 'Yes.'

"What is this?" Blake asks, holding up a rectangular electronic. Ruby recognizes it, but mostly from old comics she'd borrowed from Clover. Yang takes it in her hands.

"It's a radio," she says softly. "I don't know how I know that," she chuckles, confused.

"It is a radio," Qrow confirms. "Summer always used to tinker with it. It played mostly static but she'd play around with it and she'd make music come out of it. Some sort of slow, jazzy melody. Always the same type."

Yang fiddles with it for a while, turns it around and pushes all the buttons, but only static comes out.

"The radio frequency must not work anymore," Qrow says, and Yang stops the radio, puts it back. The silence is deafening. Blake takes her hand.

"This is a very well-decorated place," Weiss says, apropos of nothing.

"Yes, well, I actually had very little to do with it, apart from my room. I cannot say I have much of a designer eye."

As they get out of the kitchen, Ruby looks back on it. She notices on the counter a jar with colorful chocolate candies inside it. It looks half empty and also untouched by years.

The next room they go into is Qrow's room. He didn't joke when he said he wasn't much for decoration. Even with the light on, it's still very dark. The room is all black, apart from the carpet, which is red, and the bed covers, which are a soft green. There's a closet, and a few empty shelves. Ah, there's also a desk which is a dark brown. That's all.

All the girls look unimpressed at Qrow. Clover is the only one who enters the room, looking excitedly around it. He must notice something they don't, because his attention is drawn to something on the wall.

"I didn't actually stayed a lot around here," Qrow grumbles. "Pretty soon after we finished remodelling and redecorating and everything, I started doing more covert missions for Oz. So it didn't make sense to keep much around here. Most of my stuff is in my flat in Patch anyway."

'Ah, makes sense', she thinks, nodding.

"Did you have some favourite boyband?" Clover asks excitedly and Ruby blinks fast. Qrow starts blushing. Ruby and Yang grin at each other.

"Wha- How did you know?"

"I can see the marks here from having taped posters. And knowing you, couldn't really be anything else."

Qrow puffs and crosses his arms defensively. "Alright, time to go," he says, turning off the light and leaving Clover in the dark. Ruby sighs. They move forward. Behind her, she can hear Clover ask him, "Will you tell me?" and Qrow's quiet response, "Later." In front of her, Yang coughs, "Whipped". Then Blake kisses her hand and Yang looks like she forgot her thoughts.

Beside her, Weiss rolls her eyes. Ruby rolls them too in sympathy then they smile at each other. They're still holding hands.

The living room is beautiful. The walls are painted in a deep green. There are quite a few paintings hanging, a few meters apart. Underneath the white, fluffy carpet there's wood. There's a corner leather couch, and a window above it. Some grey curtains that were once white complete the look. She can’t see anything through the window, anyway. The dirt is too thick. But Ruby thinks of the way the house is positioned. The sunset must have really been beautiful.

In front of the couch there's a transparent coffee table, a magazine on it. Going a bit further in, after Yang and Blake, they see a couple of cupboards, one with teacups and saucers, and one with other glasses. A small TV is resting on a cabinet, in the corner opposite the couch. Next to it, a there's a dead plant. In another corner, there's a speaker.

"Lemme guess," Yang asks, "the paintings were Summer's idea?"

"Summer and Raven, actually. They had the most artistic spirit out of us, but to be fair, Summer did research everything she could before we started. Though," he says, stepping in, "Taiyang and I come with our own additions. Taiyang suggested the tech and the practical, like the cupboards and that speaker. And me..." he goes to the cabinet underneath the TV. He opens it, crouching down to its level.

Inside, there's bottles of wine. Ruby isn't shocked. She wonders though, how he fares with all of this, even if he has been sober for a good while. Or if being here makes things harder. She's never set a foot before in this house, and yet she feels heavy. She can't imagine how Uncle Qrow must feel.

"They must have aged up well," Qrow says, closing the cabinet. He stands up. He takes out his scroll, buttons around it for a while, then the speaker in the corner booms to life. Everyone's startled.

"Ah, so it works," he says.

"A warning would have been nice," Weiss says, holding her other hand above her heart. Ruby stares at the particles of dust falling to the ground.

Qrow ignores her. After a few seconds, a song with an upbeat tempo starts playing, followed soon by a smooth voice singing.

"What is this?" Ruby asks.

"Believe it or not, this was all the rage twenty years ago."

Ruby looks at him as if he'd grown two heads. She can't picture him listening to this, nor her dad or Raven.

She actually likes the song. She starts nodding in beat with the song. Out of the corner of her eye, she actually sees Clover dancing a bit.

"I remember this song," he says, moving along the beat in Qrow's direction. "I actually danced a choreography on it when I was like twelve." Uncle Qrow is shaking his head, but he's also smiling.

Ruby turns towards Weiss, who reads her mind before she even opens her mouth. "No, it's dusty, our clothes will get dirty."

"We need to wash them anyway. Come on, it's a fun song."

Weiss sighs, but then she starts shaking her head and moving her hips, a small smile pulling at her lips. Ruby laughs. She's much less coordinated than Weiss is, but looking around the room she notices she's not the only one. Blake may possibly be worse than her, but both her and Yang are having fun. She's surprised to see that Uncle Qrow and Clover are actually decent dancers. Well, she'd expected it from Clover, given the earlier comment, but she's never seen her Uncle dance.

For a moment, the sombre atmosphere of the house and the tour disappears as they all dance to the beat, just enjoying each other's company. The dust looks a bit like snow around them.

Only it's clear that it's not, because the moment the song is over, they all start coughing.

"Okay, maybe it was a bad idea," Blake admits.

"We had fun though." Clover asks.

"We did," she replies.

"Let's get out of here before we inhale more dust," Qrow says, putting away his scroll.

__________________________________________________

_"Must you sharpen your knives in the kitchen?"_

_"What's your problem? It's not like there's any kids around to get hurt. And you all know how to use weapons."_

_Qrow enters the kitchen, yawning loudly._

_"Morning, Qrow," Summer says quickly, before addressing Raven again, "Yes but the kitchen is, you know, a sanitary place. A clean place. Where we all eat."_

_"Well, I'm also cleaning my weapons, so everything should be dandy."_

_"Ugh, why are you stubborn?" Summer asks exasperatedly._

_'Gods', Qrow thinks, reaching for the coffee pot, 'It's way too early in the morning for this. Please have mercy on me.'_

_"I am stubborn? How am I stubborn? Where am I supposed to sharpen and clean my weapon? In our room you won't let me, either. Would you rather I did that outside? Maybe on the front porch. So everyone can see me."_

_"What's wrong with the attic?"_

_"Where half of it is full of your inventions and reparations and your tools?"_

_"Yes, what about it? I'm happy to share it."_

_Raven growls. That's the point where Taiyang intervenes. "Hey, darlings, don't argue now. The breakfast is almost ready." He turns the pan around, another fluffy pancake joining the stack on the large plate next to him._

_Summer takes a deep breath._

_"I'm sorry," she says softly, "I let my frustration get the better of me and I got defensive. I don't really have anything with you caring for Omen, I know you're very good at it. It's just that you get so focused when you're doing it, that almost nothing can get through you, except maybe a Grimm attack. It's frustrating sometimes, when I keep trying to talk to you and I receive cold stone silence."_

_"Oh," it's all the reply._

_"Don't get me wrong, you're also cute when you get so focused," she says, winking at her._

_Qrow groans internally. It's definitely too early for this. He takes another sip of his coffee. Taiyang hands him a plate of pancakes silently. Qrow is thankful._

_"That's why I would have liked to have you in the attic with me. I can try and fix stuff on my side and you work on Omen and the rest of your weapons and I get double the satisfaction: a job well done and your cute face."_

_Qrow sees Raven wrinkle her nose from too many compliments. He understands that much at least. Neither of them are really used to it. But he also sees her smile softly at her girlfriend. For all their rivalry, he's happy for his sister. He doesn't think he's seen her smile as much before they'd met Summer and Taiyang._

_Raven's gaze falls. She looks vulnerable._

_"But what will I do?"_

_"What?" Summer asks, confused._

_"What will I do," she repeats, tensely. "Taiyang cooks the food, and you bake cookies sometimes. And even Qrow is useful, he washes the dishes and cleans around."_

_For his part, Qrow doesn't have energy to be offended._

_"I don't do anything around here," Raven says, "but I want to stay with you guys."_

_Summer looks a bit conflicted for a few seconds._

_"You could read...," she suggests slowly, before her face lights up, "You could draw!"_

_"What?" both Raven and Taiyang turn their heads towards her._

_"Come on, I know you draw well. You could draw us, or something from the kitchen, whatever catches your attention. So you'd be with us, but you wouldn't be so lost in your own head, maybe."_

_"Maybe," Raven replies softly. Summer kisses her softly, pulling Raven towards her. Qrow looks away._

_"Hey, don't I get any kiss?" Taiyang pouts, coming near the girls with two plates of pancakes. "I made all the food. And you know what the apron says."_

_Qrow huffes. Taiyang never misses the opportunity to use his "Kiss the Chef" apron to demand kisses from either girl. Qrow sees Raven roll her eyes with a smile, before pulling him down to kiss him, with Summer following suit. He sighs, remarking he has drunk all his coffee._

_Might as well sit down at the table and enjoy his breakfast, now that all of...that is over._

_"When did you come here?" Raven asks in a sharp tone, all of the affection for earlier disappearing._

_"Wow, I'm so excited to see you too, dear sister," he deadpans. "Half of hour ago."_

_Her eyes go comically bigger. Oops, then he wasn't meant to hear all that._

_"Whatever," she says, taking the maple syrup._

_"Eat well, everyone," Summer says cheerfully and the rest of the team echoes her._

_________________

The next room that draws their attention is the library. There are quite a few books around on the shelves. Ruby wonders of their history. If those were books that her mother read, or Raven, or Qrow, or even her father - books that he hadn't been able to take back with him because they reminded him of this place. Blake goes towards the books immediately, Yang behind her. Ruby notices the desk. It's big, made of mahogany, with a couple of drawers and a cabinet.

She opens the door of the cabinet. A couple of notebooks and books again. Riffling through them shows her the notebooks are empty and the books are on physics.

"This is gorgeous!" she hears behind her and she turns around to see Weiss holding an acousting guitar painted all over with flowers and animals and people’s names.

"Ah," Qrow says softly, "I'd completely forgotten. That was Summer's, too." He smiles softly, and his eyes look a bit...not present. "She'd had it with her since before Academy time. She'd learnt to play from her grandpa, if I remember correctly. She made us all paint over it and sign our names on it. She said it was the most important thing in her life, so it would only make sense to have her most important people on it. I think it should also..."

He takes the guitar and turns it around. After a while, he seems to find what he is looking for, because he exclaims, pointing to the bottom of the guitar, "Yes, here."

Ruby comes closer, curiosity getting the best of her. On the place Qrow indicated, there is a very messy writing of Yang's name, in big letters.

"You were still a baby when she had you write your name. She helped you, of course."

"Aww," she hears Blake coo.

Ruby tries not to react.

She is not upset. She has no right to be upset, it is all silly. So she is fine.

"Ah, Rubes, look, you too!" Yang exclaims.

She whips her head up. On the front of the guitar, at the edge, very close to Yang's name is Ruby's, this time written in cursive.

"She must have added you herself," Qrow muses.

Ruby blinks.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Blake asks, sounding worried, and it's then that Ruby realizes she's crying. She wipes her tears off quickly.

"Yes, yes, it's just all this dust."

She's not fooling them, she knows. Her team knows her too well, as does her Uncle, and Clover seems just too perceptive for his own good. But neither of them say anything. Weiss puts a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess...I wanted to know I was important to her too. I...just miss her. It's odd to miss someone you've never met," she says, with a sigh.

She feels Qrow's arms around her, the Yang's, then one by one, everyone hugging her. She's suffocating a little, but she's been through worse. She can stand it a little, she thinks.

"I miss her too," Qrow says."The world is not the same without her, even if she's been gone for so long. We all feel it. But you were important to her. She was so excited to bring you into this world, she was always talking to you."

"Yea," Yang interjects,"I remember her presenting you to me and telling me I'll have a younger sister. And I remember us three playing together. Well, you weren't born yet," Yang's chuckle reverberates through her body. "But we played with you."

They let go from the hug a few minutes later.

"You know," Clover says, "the world may not be the same without her, but it's definitely better with you in it." Everyone nods.

Ruby smiles, sniffing. "Thank you." She looks at the guitar, then at Weiss, "Think you could play something?"

Weiss flushes, "I'm flattered that you think my musical abilities extend that far, but I haven't actually played a guitar that much. I only know a song or two. I don't even know if it's tuned."

"I think I can do it," Qrow says, looking at the guitar intensely. "Summer showed me how to do it a couple of times."

Ruby returns to the desk she was searching. She doesn't expect anything anymore, really, but she would rather finish what she'd started. If nothing else, it would still give some insight into her mother's life.

She draws the first drawer of the desk.

Her heart stops then it starts beating again, much faster.

There, in the middle of the drawer, is a white envelope, with 'Ruby' written in the middle of it. She could only guess it was from her mother.

She picks it up. Her heart is beating so loud that she can hear it in her ears, drowning everything else. Her hands are shaking.

She turns around towards everyone, showing them the envelope silently. Weiss nods.

"Do you want to open it now?"

Ruby shakes her head. "No." She can't yet. Those are words from her mother. And once she'll read them, she won't be able to unread them. She won't be able to read them again for the first time. She needs to prepare.

And she's also been through enough ups and downs emotionally today, that she could wait another day or two. The guitar itself proves enough that she mattered to Summer.

Weiss starts playing after a couple of minutes. Her fingers fumble a bit on the chords, but her voice is beautiful and clear. And it instantly makes everyone feel a little better. Or at least, Ruby assumes so. She knows it to be true for herself.

She leaves the library and goes in the last room. She can still hear Weiss from the other room. It brings Ruby enough clarity to notice the vase with flowers on the nightstand beside the huge bed. And that the flowers are much fresher than they should be for a place that hasn't been stepped in for so many years. She also notices there's less dust around here.

The door to the closet is slightly ajar. She opens it. It's empty, save for a cardboard box. She opens it slowly.

The first thing she sees is a picture of team STRQ, the same picture she'd seen at home, and in Qrow's wallet. But in this picture, Summer is crossed over angrily with a black marker. Above where she'd normally be, it's written in tiny letters 'I'm sorry.' There's also a few wrinkled spots, like wet paper that didn't dry properly.

The box belongs to Raven, she realizes with a startle.

Underneath that photo, there's papers. Lots and lots of them. Sketches. Some of them are flowers, some of them are various parts of the house or of Vale, and even quite a few of Uncle Qrow. Most of them are of her parents, though. Cooking in the kitchen, or laying on the couch, looking at something outside of the paper. One of them is with them laughing in bed, holding each other, and she skips over it quickly, a bit embarrassed. There's also sketches of them separately.

One sketch of her mother is torn in pieces and taped back together. Raven really was a good drawer. It is a clearer picture of her mother than anything else she’d seen in her life. Ruby can see why people say she resembles her so much.

Ruby wonders if that's the reason Raven was so bitter towards her every time they'd met.

She finds more pictures underneath. There's one of her and Qrow, bickering. Without the same deep animosity of the present.

There's one of her embracing her mother, and one of her embracing her father. In another, she's rolling her eyes as being kissed by the both of them. All of them are wearing Santa's hats. They look very young. They must've been Ruby’s age.

'Oh', she says softly as all the pieces of the puzzle come together slowly. They must've been a couple, all of them. It certainly makes enough sense.

At the very bottom of the box, there's two rings, each with a small piece of paper in it. She picks one of it up and reads the paper. She recognizes her mother's neat handwriting.

"I did think, let’s go about this slowly.

This is important. This should take

some really deep thought. We should take

small thoughtful steps.

But, bless us, we didn’t. "

Ruby holds the ring in the light. It's almost like...a marriage-

"Ruby," someone says and she startles so badly that she almost drops the ring. She turns towards the door and she finds Uncle Qrow here.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. What did you find here?"

"A box of things. I got suspicious as the flowers weren't dead enough and there's less dust around here. And then I noticed the closet being not fully closed."

Qrow comes closer.

"Ah, yes, those belong to Raven," he confirms, with a sigh.

Ruby starts putting them back, as much as she can in the order she found them, "They really loved each other, didn't they?"

Qrow is silent for a few seconds, before he replies, "They did. Neither of them really knew how to react after she died. Not that I did, I was just used to…things like that. She was really the most emotionally stable out of all of us."

Ruby nods. She puts the box back the stands up. She then notices Qrow looking in the mirror near the closet.

"You alright?" she stands up.

"Yea. You?"

"Yeah."

A beat.

"I really look like her, don't I?"

"Yes," he nods, "You're you, though."

"I know."

Another beat, as they stare at each other in the mirror. Ruby can't take her eyes away from the black spot on the left side.

"Hey, would you want some dinner? And we'll leave the attic for tomorrow. It's not going anywhere."

Ruby nods.

It's then that the rest of the team appears at the door. Weiss in particular looks pretty excited, still holding the guitar.

"Clover taught me a new song!"

"Oh really?" Ruby mirrors her enthusiasm, "That's so awesome, Weiss! Show me!"

A stomach rumbles loudly before the other girl even touches the guitar.

"Could that wait until tomorrow?" Blake asks, tensely, "I'm hungry and I'm not the only one."

Ruby chuckles. "Alright, why don't you take it and you'll show us after dinner?"

"Really?" Weiss asks softly, "Would that be alright?"

"Yep! Nobody is using it anyway."

The answering smile makes her warm all over.

"Okay, what are we eating?" Yang asks.

"I want Chinese takeaway!" Ruby says excitedly.

"We have food at home," Blake answers.

"Yes," Ruby concedes, "but we don't have Chinese."

_______________________

_The door closes with a thud behind her._

_'It's too silent', she thinks, looking around at their dusty things. She half expects Taiyang's head to appear from the kitchen, all excited 'You're home!', followed by Raven's 'You're late.'_

_They don't. Obviously. Nobody has set foot in this house ever since Raven left them._

_She looks in the kitchen. It looks the same. Only empty._

_Summer remembers Taiyang and Raven dancing in the kitchen, as if replaying a film. Raven complaining about a film she didn't like as she held Tai, and him looking at her with love-sick puppy eyes. She knows she'd probably looked the same._

_She moves further away. She knows she doesn't have a lot of time, she'll have to leave soon._

_Just..._

_'Don't be silly, Summer. You'll make it out...', she tells herself as she looks at Qrow's room, pretty empty except for a few books. The poster of MCR stares back at her._

_'You haven't said goodbye to him'._

_She hasn't seen him in a few months, gone for one of Ozpin's missions. She couldn't even if she wanted to._

_Taiyang is at home with the girls. She hasn't said anything to them either._

_She passes the living room. The last film they'd watched together comes in the back of her mind. Raven and Qrow throwing popcorn at the TV, frustrated, with her and Taiyang laughing in the background. Playing charades and Qrow mimicking a chicken._

_The downstairs bathroom still has a few of Raven's hair products._

_She climbs the stairs carefully. One of them creaks. She forgot it does that._

_The guest room is untouched. They'd only used it a couple of times. She remembers thinking of making it the kids' room. They'd never gotten around to it._

_She lingers in the library, eyes fixed on her guitar. She steps in, sits on the old armchair that they'd never replaced. She takes her guitar, brushes the dirt off, traces the names of the people she loves. Her grandparents, long gone, her mother, taken too. Her sister, whom she'd never heard anything of in thirteen years. Might be dead as well. Raven. Taiyang. Qrow._

_Yang._

_She stares at the bottom of her guitar, smiling fondly as she remembers Yang coming up to her as she'd played the guitar, curious little baby. She had stopped, took the baby in her arms and started playing again. Yang had laughed. And then Summer had taken a marker and with her help, she'd let Yang write her name on it as well._

_"I love you," Summer had told her seriously and Yang had replied just as seriously with "Ba-ba."_

_She realizes with a startle that she doesn't have Ruby on here. Of course she doesn't, she hasn't been here at all when she was born. She doesn't know why she hasn't taken her guitar back home with her. And in any case, now it's too late._

_She rummages around the desk until she finds something to write with. She finds a lot of writing tools. She doesn’t remember who they belong to. A fountain pen, pens, pencils, a couple of markers and paper. She takes one of the markers and sits back down on the armchair. She writes Ruby's name carefully on the front of the guitar._

_Summer wishes she had Ruby with her, so that she could do the same thing she did with Yang. So that she could tell her she loves her. She feels her heart fall down, when she realizes she might never do it again._

_Unprompted, her mind takes her to her last conversation with Raven, a couple of months back._

_Raven had looked cold and untouchable. Summer wanted terribly much to hold her._

_"It's a suicide mission, Summer," she'd told her, voice as steel. "All of this that you're doing for Ozpin, trying to defeat Salem...is not worth it."_

_"I'm not doing this for Ozpin. I'm doing it for the world. For our girls. For Taiyang, for Qrow," a beat, "For you."_

_Raven clenched her jaw. Summer knew her too well, she was trying to not look soft._

_"Well, whoever it is for, it's pointless."_

_They stared down at each other for a minute._

_"Come with me," they'd said in unison, then they looked with surprise at each other. Summer recovered faster._

_"We haven't tried to beat her together, Rav. We're strong. And then we won't have to live in fear."_

_Raven shook her head. She came closer to Summer. Close enough that she could touch her if she wanted. She didn't._

_"Come with me. You, Taiyang, Yang and Ruby." She rolled her eyes. "And Qrow. I'll keep you safe."_

_Summer let herself live in that fantasy for a few seconds. If only to entertain the thought of seeing Raven again every day. What it might be live in that tribe. She knew she couldn't put the girls through it, nor Qrow. But for a few seconds, Raven was in their lives again._

_The spell broke when she shook her head._

_"Running away isn't the safe answer, Raven. She'll come after us eventually, after she destroys the whole world. And I can't let her destroy the world, not if it depends on me."_

_"It doesn't depend on you!"_

_"But it does."_

_"Fine! If you want to play hero so badly, go and play hero!" Raven said angrily, taking out Omen and disappearing through a portal._

_And that was the last thing they'd said to each other. She wishes she'd said something better._

_Summer shakes herself out of her reverie, realizing that she is hugging her guitar. She takes a few deep breaths, swallows. Raven was right. It is a suicide mission, and even more so what she plans to do. The chances of success are terribly low._

_But she’s never been a quitter. She can't accept it, to just go lie down and take her defeat, to not even try._

_All she's got is trying._

_And she can't lose any more people._

_She stares at Ruby's name on her guitar. She wishes she could talk to her, maybe explain, tell her again that she loves her. Not that she'd understand now, she's just a baby._

_It is then that she's struck with inspiration, remembering the paper and the pen she'd found earlier._

_She stands up abruptly, puts the guitar back._

_Sits at the desk, takes out the fountain pen, paper and some ink._

_And proceeds to stare at the blank paper._

_What can she write?_

_In which way can she explain her actions? Maybe there's no way to justify them. She's only doing what she hopes is best to protect her daughters._

_She doesn't have any wisdom to impart, any advice. She wonders if she has any right to it, anyway._

_She just wants to talk to her youngest daughter._

_"Dearest Ruby,_

_It is to my best hope that you never get to read this. Because I would be home with you and I would tell you all of this._

_But if I'm not, I hope this reaches you._

_I wonder how old you are when you read this. I wonder whether Taiyang or Qrow gave this to you, or if you've come to this old house and taken it yourself._

_I wonder what to say to you._

_I could fill books with the things I want to tell you. I don't have that time. I wish I did._

_You look so much like me, dear Ruby, I wonder in which other ways we are also alike._

_I like chocolate and summer sunsets and early mornings (makes for poor sleep) and I hog the covers. Some people say I try to save everyone, but I just can't sit and do nothing if there's something to be done._

_I like repairing things. I like to get things done by myself as much as I can. It's maybe a bit related to the point I made earlier._

_I'm the leader of my team. Or I was. If you ever become one yourself... it's not easy. Good luck. Communication and trust are the key._

_I play videogames in the weekend and boardgames on Thursday night. Everyone is such a sore loser._

_I am Huntress. You are or will be probably one too, growing up in such a family. It's alright if not, it's not as 'wow' a job as everyone makes it to be._

_Some days seem like there is only pain and misery and suffering in this world, but then I remind myself that there are so many strong people who choose to be kind every day. I try to, as much as I can. It's not always easy. I hope you succeed more than I did. And if not, that's okay. I'm sure you're trying your best._

_I'm proud of you, Ruby. I love you._

_Your mother,_

_Summer Rose."_

_She looks up at the window. It's night. She must leave._

_She sighs, looks over the letter again, finds herself not really satisfied with it, but she's got no time to write it again. She folds it and puts it in an envelope, signs it off with Ruby's name. Then she places everything back in their place. Puts the envelope in an empty drawer. Leaves the library and closes the door._

_She enters their bedroom._

_'So many good memories made here', she thinks, looking at the rings on her left hand._

_She looks up, sees the vase near the bed. It's empty._

_"Goodbye."_

_The word echoes into the empty room._

_She doesn't look back at the house as she leaves._

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know if it came out exactly like i wanted it to, but the main ideas are there. i hope you liked it, it's unbetaed (yet) because i had no patience but i hope you liked it anyway.
> 
> the poem from the ring is from Mary Oliver's 'I did think, let's go about this slowly'


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